Fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's épée
The men's épée was one of seven fencing events on the fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics programme. It was the twelfth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 30 November 1956. 41 fencers from 18 nations competed.
Competition format
The competition used a pool play format, with each fencer facing the other fencers in the pool in a round robin. Bouts were to 5 touches. Barrages were used to break ties necessary for advancement. However, only as much fencing was done as was necessary to determine advancement, so some bouts never occurred if the fencers advancing from the pool could be determined.Results
Round 1
The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals. Fencers from the four teams that advanced to the final of the men's team épée event received byes through round 1:- France: Daniel Dagallier, Armand Mouyal, and René Queyroux
- Great Britain: Bill Hoskyns, Michael Howard, and Allan Jay
- Hungary: Lajos Balthazár, Béla Rerrich, and József Sákovics
- Italy: Giuseppe Delfino, Edoardo Mangiarotti, and Carlo Pavesi
Pool 1
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 5 | 0 | 25 | 13 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 2 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 17 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 3 | 4 | 2 | 28 | 22 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 4 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 16 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 5 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 26 | |||
| 6 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 20 | |||
| 7 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 25 |
Pool 2
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 6 | 1 | 32 | 16 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 2 | 5 | 2 | 31 | 19 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 3 | 5 | 2 | 28 | 20 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 4 | 4 | 3 | 31 | 23 | Qualified for quarterfinals Won barrage vs. Tsirek'idze 5–4 | ||
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 31 | 23 | Lost barrage vs. Debeur 4–5 | ||
| 6 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 25 | |||
| 7 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 28 | |||
| 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 35 |
Pool 3
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 5 | 0 | 25 | 13 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 2 | 4 | 1 | 24 | 13 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 3 | 4 | 2 | 28 | 21 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 25 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 5 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 27 | |||
| 6 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 21 | |||
| 7 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 25 |
Pool 4
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 5 | 1 | 29 | 19 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 2 | 5 | 1 | 26 | 21 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 3 | 4 | 2 | 24 | 23 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 21 | Qualified for quarterfinals | ||
| 5 | 2 | 4 | 23 | 22 | |||
| 6 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 25 | |||
| 7 | 0 | 6 | 17 | 30 |
Quarterfinals
The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.Quarterfinal 1
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 5 | 1 | 28 | 20 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 18 | Qualified for semifinals 2–0 in barrage | ||
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 22 | Qualified for semifinals 2–1 in barrage | ||
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 23 | Qualified for semifinals 1–1 in barrage | ||
| 5 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 23 | 0–3 in barrage | ||
| 6 | 2 | 4 | 22 | 22 | |||
| 7 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 27 |
Quarterfinal 2
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 5 | 1 | 25 | 15 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 2 | 5 | 1 | 27 | 19 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 24 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 25 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 5 | 2 | 4 | 22 | 23 | |||
| 6 | 2 | 4 | 22 | 28 | |||
| 7 | 1 | 5 | 23 | 29 |
Quarterfinal 3
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 5 | 1 | 26 | 21 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 2 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 15 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 3 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 17 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 24 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 5 | 2 | 4 | 25 | 25 | |||
| 6 | 1 | 5 | 20 | 27 | |||
| 7 | 1 | 5 | 20 | 28 |
Quarterfinal 4
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 13 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 2 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 18 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 3 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 21 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 4 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 15 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 5 | 2 | 4 | 22 | 25 | |||
| 6 | 1 | 5 | 21 | 28 | |||
| 7 | 1 | 5 | 19 | 28 |
Semifinals
The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the final.Semifinal 1
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 5 | 2 | 33 | 23 | Qualified for final | ||
| 2 | 5 | 2 | 32 | 23 | Qualified for final | ||
| 3 | 5 | 2 | 28 | 25 | Qualified for final | ||
| 4 | 4 | 3 | 31 | 27 | Qualified for final Won barrage vs. Delaunois 5–2 | ||
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 24 | Lost barrage vs. Delfino 2–5 | ||
| 6 | 2 | 5 | 25 | 30 | |||
| 7 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 32 | |||
| 8 | 1 | 6 | 24 | 35 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 6 | 1 | 32 | 22 | Qualified for final | ||
| 2 | 5 | 2 | 28 | 26 | Qualified for final | ||
| 3 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 27 | Qualified for final 1–0 in barrage | ||
| 4 | 4 | 3 | 31 | 28 | Qualified for final 1–0 in barrage | ||
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 26 | 0–2 in barrage | ||
| 6 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 25 | |||
| 7 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 28 | |||
| 8 | 0 | 7 | 18 | 30 |
Final
The three-way tie among the Italian fencers for the medals at 5–2 required a barrage to settle. The first barrage resulted in another three-way tie at 1–1. In the second barrage, the results were the same except Pavesi defeated Mangiarotti to win the gold medal. Delfino took silver and Mangiarotti bronze. In all, Mangiarotti had faced Delfino 4 times, Delfino had faced Pavesi 3 times, and Pavesi had faced Mangiarotti 3 times.| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 5 | 2 | 29 | 20 | 1–1, 2–0 in barrages | |||
| 5 | 2 | 30 | 27 | 1–1, 1–1 in barrages | |||
| 5 | 2 | 28 | 25 | 1–1, 0–2 in barrages | |||
| 4 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 28 | |||
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 29 | |||
| 6 | 3 | 4 | 29 | 25 | |||
| 7 | 2 | 5 | 22 | 29 | |||
| 8 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 35 |